Knitted fabric and hosiery



Feb. 23, 1960 G. A. URLAUB 2,925,725

KNITTED FABRIC AND HOSIERY Filed Nov. 6. 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 lig;

INVENTOR GeorgeHfUrZcbu HTTORNE n Feb. 23; 1960 B UVMLWMMIV/E H l H H l NV E N TOR.

Geo rc/e H. Urlaub SQ i #l5/1 TTOR NE 15,

4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Feb. 23, 1960 Filed Nov. 6, 1953 LV) Nw s a. s wwf wm Q (3CD/uw 3 ,33C CCCCQJCDCD O MQ Feb. 23, 1960 G. A. URLAUB 2,925,725

KNITTED FABRIC AND HOSIERY Filed Nov. 6, 1953 4 SheetsfSheet 4 S3 S4 D Si S7.

INV EN TOR. 650,665 /Z MDL/m5 Y %MLDJ United States KNITTED FABRIC AND HGSIERY George A. Urlaub, Malena, NSY.

Application November '6, 1953, Serial No. 390,456

Claims.4 (Cl. 66--182) This invention relates to improvements in knitted full fashioned fabrics such as hosiery, sweaters, underwear and other articles of knitted apparel.

The broad object of this invention is to provide irnproved forms of such hat knitted fabrics, knit of two or more yarns having a light weight selvage.

The invention is illustrated herein as applied to a full fashioned stocking knit on a flat bed knitting machine,

' as one example thereof.

A further object of this invention is to provide a full fashioned stocking knit, at least, of two or more yarns substantially throughout the entire area thereof, with the exception of a marginal selvage area knit of a single yarn and gathered into a seam.

Another ob'iect of this invention is to provide a full Afashioned stocking having a relatively heavy body fabric lbe apparent from the following description of the embodiment thereof illustrated in detail in the attached drawings.

ln these drawings,

Figure l is a diagrammatic illustration of a full; fashioned at knit stocking fabric embodying this invention;

Figure 2 shows a detailed View of a small section of the leg area of the fabric in the region enclosed in the broken line rectangle of Figure l;

Figure 3 shows a single course of the fabric in the area indicated by the dotted blocks 3 in Fig. l; y

Figure 4 is a single course of the fabric in the area indicated by the dotted blocks 4 of Fig. l;

Figure 5 shows two courses of the fabric in the area indicated by the dotted blocks 5 of Fig. 1; i

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic illustration of a ladies stocking formed from the blank of Fig. l;

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic illustration of a modified l arent 2,925,725 Patented Feb. 23, 1960 is unsightly, and furthermore, is easily subject to vdis- .toi-tion out of a desired straight line formation.

This invention is directed to the idea of providing single yarn selvages for a multi-yarn fabric, whereby, when the selvages are gathered into a seam, a less bulky and, therefore, more sightly and less distortionable seam results.

The use in stocking manufacture of this basic fabric method is only one product and it is by no means the only one. This fabric is also intended for the manufacture of sweaters, bathing suits, dresses and other -articles of knitted apparel. Applicant does not want to be limited to its use in stocking fabrics alone because a ladies Ifull length stocking is used as the example for purposes of specifications and drawings. Similar details and drawings, relating to sweaters and the other kinds of knitted apparel (for which this fabric is to be used) would be unnecessarily repetitious and burden-- some and would serve no material purpose as anyoneV skilled in the art can well understand these applicationsof my invention.

is not limited to fabrics knit of two yarns, since in somef cases three or more may be useful. As will appear later, three yarns are desirably used in the reinforced heel and sole areas. The purpose of this invention is to provide, in the formation of such two thread fabrics, a single yarn selvage edge throughout the welt, and leg, and two yarn selvages in the heel and sole areas, so that when the blank is closed by seaming, a less massive seam will result than occurs in present practice.

Referring to Figure l, a full fashioned flat knit stocking fabric is diagrammatically illustrated. As is well known, it consists of the welt area A, which is cornmonly composed of the inner welt, the outer welt, the after welt and the leg start. The area B is commonly known as the flare, and the area C the knee area. The area D represents the calf area, and the area E the lower leg area. The area F is designated the heel-instep area, and the area G the toe area. The blank, as illustrated, terminates with the usual ravel courses forming the area H, although this invention is applicable to the presently used loopless-toe construct-ion. In accordance with this invention the entire blank. is continuously knit from one yarn which for convenience can be termed the body yarn. As is Well known, the body yarn may be of a different denier, twist and filament in different parts of the blank depending on its nature. In the case of stockings this yarn will be heavier form of a full fashioned flat knit stocking fabric ernl bodying this invention;

Figure 8 is a single course of fabric in the area indi cated by the dotted blocks 3 of Fig. 7; and` Figure 9 is a diagrammatic illustration of a ladies stocking formed from the blank of Fig. 7. y

It has been proposed to knit flat fabric of the type used in full fashioned hosiery of two or more yarns to provide a more rugged fabric less subject to runs due to yarn breaks. As is known in this art when such a flat fabric is closed to form the finished stocking its selvage edges are gathered into a seam which produces a pronounced visible structural formation, normally positioned in use, to extend up the back of the leg of the wearer. in multi-yarn fabrics of this type it is obviouspthat the increased thickness vof fabric extending as'it does norin the welt area than in the leg portion. The point is that the fabric blank is knit throughout of a single yarn end.

s Simultaneously knit therewith is a second yarn which is knit in the same courses with the body yarn throughrnally to the selvage edges, forms a bulky seam which out the blank with the exception of the terminal loops in each course which define the selvage areas 14. and 14. This construction results lfrom the lfact that the rst body yarn is continuously knit in courses which extend tothe extreme selvage edges 1t), while the second body or reinforcing yarn is continuously knit in each course between the lines 12 which form what might be termed a selvage edge for the reinforcing yarn, The reinforced area between the lines 12 is diagrammatically illustrated at 16. Here also the reinforcing yarn can vary in characteristics in different areas of the blank, if desired. This construction is clearly shown for a single course in Fig. 3. It will be seen that this course consists of loops formed of two yarns 20 and 22. `The yarn 20 is knit throughout the full width of the fabric,

that is between the points S-l and S2 of Fig. 1, while the yarn 22 is knit only between the lines S3 and S-4 of the fabric of Fig. 1, thereby providing the single yarn selvages 14 at each side. As indicated in Fig. l, the entire central portion of the course of which the reinforced area 16 of the blank comprises loops of both the yarns and 22 is clearly illustrated in Fig. 3.

.alt will be understood by those skilled in the art that it is possible on present flat knitting lmachinery to knit the body and reinforcing yarns so that the body yarn will be knit, for example, from the outer selvage S-1 lto the inner selvage S-4 and the reinforcing yarn will vbe knit from the inner selvage S-3 to the outer selvage S-2. There is, therefore, produced a structure wherein in each course there are terminal loops at each end formed respectively of said yarns with intermediate double loops composed of both yarns and extending from the inner selvage S-3 to the inner selvage S-4. Thus the selvage edge between S-1 and S-3 of the blank shown in Figure l will consist of terminal loops of one of the yarns while the selvage edge between the lines S-4 and S-Z will comprise terminal loops of the other yarn.

When desired the heel, sole and toe areas, diagrammatically illustrated at 18, which includes areas F and G, may be reinforced by the knitting in of a third yarn which will be knit in the usual manner and will terminate at the outer edges of the courses along the seam line 12, as does the first reinforcing yarn. This third yarn can, if desired, be knit to selvages S1 and S2, proi viding double yarn loops in the selvage area 14 of the heel, sole and toe, i.e. the areas F and G.

There is shown in more detail in Fig. 4, a single course in the area F which terminates with the selvages 14 having double loops as distinguished from the single loop selvages 14. In this course, as shown in Fig. 4, the yarns 19 and 20 are simultaneously knitted into the loops of the extra reinforced heel and sole areas at the left while the yarns 21 and 20 are simultaneously knitted into the extra reinforced heel and sole areas at the right, thus in the reinforced heel area three yarns are knit into the loops. The third yarn, however, must be interrupted at the inside edge of the reinforcement on each side so that two yarns are actually used in the instep area.

Thus, as illustrated in Fig. 5, the third yarn at the left side is the yarn 19 which starts at the edge S-1 and ends at the inner edge of the heel reinforcement at the left. At the inner edge of the heel reinforcement at the other side the third yarn has been given the reference character 21 and it is knit into three yarn loops to the line S2. Thus two yarn loops are formed in the selvages 14 and three yarn loops are provided in the reinforced areas on each side of the fabric blank. At the center of the fabric comprising the area 16, which eX- tends down into the instep, it will consist of two yarn loops composed of the yarns 20 and 22. This portion of the fabric occurs at the break at the center of Fig. 4. In knitting the area G where Vthe extra reinforcement for the toe occurs, the three yarn loops extend all the way across without interruption between the edges S-S and S-4. In this area, therefor, the single course will differ from the single course of Fig. 4 only in that instead of requiring two diiferent yarns 19 and 21 for the extra heel and sole reinforcement either one will serve as the third yarn to be knit in extending between the lines S-1 and S-2 and terminate there to provide the double yarn loops of the selvage edges 14' for the area G. This variant will readily be apparent to those skille in the art. e

In order to provide a complete and adequate disclosure applicant has illustrated in Fig. 5 the last course of the stocking body area and the rst course of the reinforcement sole area. Thus the uppermost course of Fig. 5 is the iirst course of the reinforced area F and is really the same as the single course of Fig. 4. The

other course of Fig. 5 is the same as the course in Fig. 3. The former course has double-yarn loops in the selvage edges 14' and triple-yarn loops in the reinforced high heel and foot area, and of course as explained in connection with Fig. 4, double-yarn loops between the reinforced heel areas. The latter course contains singleyarn loops in the selvage edges 14 and double-yarn loops throughout the rest of the course comprising the area 16.

Fig. 6 is a somewhat diagrammatic illustration of a finished stocking made by the blank of Fig. l, to which a welt W of any suitable construction has been added. Corresponding reference numerals have been applied to the various parts of the stocking so that it can be related to the blank of Fig. 1.

A better understanding of the invention will be clear from Figure 2, wherein the selvage area 14 is shown knit of a single yarn which is the body yarn 20. At a predetermined number of needles inwardly of the selvage edge 10, a reinforcing yarn 22 is fed to the same needles as the body yarn to form double loops. The double loops may lie on the same plane, as indicated in Figure 2, or may be fed under proper tension and control as in plating, to produce a plated fabric, as is well knownin this art. The double loop area 16 is clearly indicated in Figure 2.

Those skilled in the art will readily understand how this fabric can be knit on a modern flat body knitting machine. The yarn carrier for the first body yarn 20 will, of course, be controlled to travel throughout the lentire needle row required to knit a particular width of fabric, and a second carrier will be controlled to feed the second body or reinforcing yarn between the selvage edges 12 for that yarn. There are many other ways that this can be accomplished, including the use, if desired, of yarn carriers having two or more yarn tubes physically displaced along the needle row the required distance to provide the light weight salvage area of a desired width, as explained above.

It is, of course, within this invention to make the light weight selvage area 14 of any desired width, as for example 2, 4, 6 or 8 loops in extent. Since skilled knitters will appreciate a number of different ways of producing this fabric, it is not intended by this description to indicate any limitation on the methods of knitting a fabric of this type. Under present commercial seaming practice, a four needle single yarn selvage is suitable to the bite of the seaming machine. This insures that no single weight fabric will be visible at the seam, when so desired.

There is diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 7 a stocking blank substantially like that of Fig. 1, for which reason the same reference characters where required have been applied, dilfering from the blank of Fig. l,

however, in omitting a reinforcement in the heel, foot and toe. As is clear from the entire disclosure, the fabric of this blank can be knit from a body yarn which runs all the way through from selvage edge S-l to selvage edge S-Z, and a reinforcing yarn which runs only from the selvage edges S-3 and S-4. A single course of such knitting is illustrated in full detail in Fig. 3. Likewise, as is apparent ffrom the disclosure, this blank may be knit of a yarn which runs from selvage edge S1 to selvage edge S-4 and from a second yarn which runs from selvage edge S-3 to selvage edge S-2. This latter method of knitting is illustrated in full detail in Fig. 8, which shows a course in full detail taken from the area indicated by the blocks numbered 8 in Fig. 7. The rst yarn referred to extending from S1 to S-4 is indicated at 20 in Fig. 8, while the second yarn which extends from S-3 to S-2 is indicated by the yarn 22, Fig. 8. The resulting single loop selvages are shown at 14.

Fig. 9 diagrammatically illustrates a full fashioned stocking which results from seaming a blank constructed assenza in accordance with the showing in Fig. 7 which has no extra foot reinforcement.

It will be understood that the body and reinforcing yarns may be either mono-filament or multi-filament yarns, and of any suitable material, including natural and synthetic fibres.

In accordance with this invention it is proposed that in seaming a fabric of this type to form, for example, a stocking, the light weight selvage areas will be gathered into the seam so that when the blank is closed the multiloop areas will be directly contiguous to the sides of the seam so as to provide a uniform weight appearance to the fabric in this area.

The construction herein `disclosed also makes it possible to provide a Wider area 14 of single yarn selvage loops and to seam the fabric, in the case of a stocking, so that all of the thin fabric area 14 is not gathered into the seam. The result produces a seam, as before, bordered on each side by single loop areas of diaphanous appearance.

Some obvious variations in the subject matter of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and I prefer, therefore, to be limited only as required by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A iiat knit stocking blank comprised of a leg portion formed of multiple-yarn loops intermediate a pair of selvage edges of single-yarn loops.

2. A at knit full fashioned hosiery blank comprised of a body, foot and leg portion knit of multiple-yarn loops intermediate a pair of side selvage edges, the selvage edge portions of each course at least in the leg portion being knit of a lesser number of yarns than the remainder of said course.

3. A at knit full fashioned hosiery blank comprised of a leg portion formed of double-yarn loops intermediate a pair of selvage edges of single-yarn loops.

4. In the combination of claim 3, said blank having 'nforced heel and sole areas composed of three-yarn 5. A full fashioned knitted garment blank consisting of a fabric knit throughout of a body yarn, and a reinforcing yarn with the exception of its selvage edges which are composed of one of these yarns only.

6. A full fashioned knit garment having a seam, at least the major portion of said seam comprising interconnected selvage edges knit of body yarn, and the fabric intermediate said selvage edges being knit of Said body yarn and at least one reinforcing yarn.

7. In the combination of claim 6, in which said garment is a hose, said hose having reinforced heel and sole areas composed of both of said yarns, and a second reinforcing yarn.

8. A full fashioned knit hosiery blank comprising leg and foot portions having selvage edges, each course in said leg portion being knit of two yarns, one only of which is knit in one selvage edge and the other only of which is knit in the other selvage edge.

9. A full fashioned knit garment having a portion comprising double-yarn loops and a portion comprising triple-yarn loops, said first portion including a selvage edge of a single-yarn loops and said second portion including a selvage edge of double-yarn loops.

10. A at knit fabric, the major portion of which is composed of two body yarns, said portions consisting of courses of double-yarn loops all terminating at each end in several single-yarn loops consisting of one body yarn only at one end and the other body yarn at the other end.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,496,724 Mirsky June 3, 1924 1,778,221 Mack Oct. 14, 1930 2,133,323 Friedmann Oct. 18, 1938 2,305,218 Hemmerich Dec. 15, 1942 2,636,369 Tait Apr. 28, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 487,429 Germany -.....n... Deo. 7, 1929 

